On New Year’s Day 1953, a college student driving Hank Williams to a show discovered the 29-year-old star dead in the back seat. This episode unpacks the life of Hiram Williams, a deeply flawed and brilliantly talented songwriter who could articulate universal heartbreak but could not save himself.

We trace his childhood in rural Alabama with spina bifida occulta, guitar lessons from blues street performer Rufus Payne, managers Lily and Audrey Williams, the ping-pong meeting with Fred Rose, Lovesick Blues and six Grand Ole Opry encores, the Luke the Drifter persona, his spinal surgery and addiction, the fake doctor Toby Marshall, and the legal battles over his estate.

• How chronic spinal pain set the stage for his alcohol and painkiller use
• What Rufus Payne taught him about rhythm and showmanship
• Why Luke the Drifter recordings were released under a pseudonym
• The dangerous drug cocktail prescribed by a paroled forger
• Jett Williams, the lost notebooks, and his lasting songwriting legacy